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This site is the inspiration of a former reporter/photographer for one of New England's largest daily newspapers and for various magazines. The intent is to direct readers to interesting political articles, and we urge you to visit the source sites. Any comments may be noted on site or directed to KarisChaf at gmail.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

As the implementation of Obamacare sent Democratic poll numbers
plummeting in recent months, party leaders responded with an Obamacare
message they hope will spare their candidates from the wrath of voters
in 2014: Mend it, don't end it.

"I think what most Americans want us to do is not repeal Obamacare,
which is what our Republican colleagues are focused on, but fix it,"
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York said during a December 22 appearance on Meet the Press.
"The president is working to fix it; we are working in the Senate to
fix it; we urge our Republican colleagues to join us in fixing it."

Which parts of Obamacare need to be fixed, and how will Senate
Democrats fix them? Schumer didn't say. Perhaps that's because a
Democratic plan to fix Obamacare doesn't exist.

One Democratic senator tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that plans to fix
Obamacare haven't even been discussed at weekly Democratic Senate caucus
meetings. "Never talked about it in the caucus," Senator Pat Leahy of
Vermont said on Tuesday. "But I would note just a generality: It's
difficult to get a consensus on fixing when the other side simply says,
'Repeal it all--all-or-nothing.'"

Other Democrats insist they're working in a smaller group on a plan
to fix Obamacare, but they just haven't released it yet. "There's
actually a group of us who are starting to work on a series of changes,"
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia told THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Tuesday.
"The question will become: Will this be able to build a bipartisan
approach, or it will be one side only?"

Warner didn't elaborate on who is in the group or what fixes might be
proposed. "I'd rather not get into the some of the details yet," he
said. The only specific problem he mentioned was the "30-hour
cliff"--the law's (temporarily-suspended)
provision that large employers must provide health insurance to
employees who work more than 30 hours per week or pay steep fines.

Warner declined to say if he would support a delay of the individual
mandate for all Americans in 2014. "I think I'll get back to you when we
get the whole package together," he said.

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